Turning Discovery Into Health

Children's Health: Hearing

Imagine the life of a child who never hears the blare of a trumpet,
a mother’s soothing words, or the bark of a dog. Thirty years
ago, most deaf or severely hearing-impaired children were not diagnosed
until they were 2 to 3 years old, and so they didn’t get
treatment when it could help the most. As a result, these children
fell behind, left with lifelong limitations in career and coping
skills.

Thanks to NIH-funded research, thousands of children born deaf
each year are able to hear through a remarkable technology called
the cochlear implant, an electronic device that mimics the function
of cells in the inner ear. In 1984, the FDA approved the first
cochlear implant for use in adults ages 18 and older, and in 2000,
for children as young as 12 months of age. In 2009 in the United
States, roughly 41,500 adults and 25,500 children have received
cochlear implants.

Research has shown that children who receive a cochlear implant
at a young age develop language skills at a rate comparable to
children with normal hearing and many can succeed in mainstream
classrooms. NIH-supported scientists have found that the benefits
of fitting a cochlear implant for a child’s ear far outweigh
its costs. A cochlear implant costs approximately $60,000—for
surgery, adjustments, and usage training. In comparison, the services,
special education, and adaptation related to a child who is deaf
before age 3 costs more than $1 million.

Imagine the Future…

Improvements in cochlear implants allow hearing-impaired or
deaf children to hear sounds just like non-deaf people.

Environmental and genetic causes of age-associated hearing
loss are known, allowing identification of those at risk and
enabling them to avoid exposure.